WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, her office said.
Her office said she has exhibited no symptoms and will isolate while she continues to work from her residence, said her spokeswoman Kirsten Allen.
Harris has not been a close contact with President Joe Biden or first lady Jill Biden. She is the highest-ranking official in the Biden administration to test positive for the virus.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff had Covid in March. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were among the dozens of attendees of the annual Gridiron Dinner who tested positive for Covid earlier this month.
Harris was in California last week, leaving Washington following the Easter Egg roll last Monday. She had limited public events during the California visit, which included a fundraiser, and returned to Washington Monday night.
The positive result came from rapid and PCR tests.
Can’t you just tell them that you are non-Covid sick and are not attending because you don’t want to get anyone else sick and make them go through the “is it covid or a cold” dance?
I was hoping one of the lessons of Covid would be people would stay home when they are sick.
The problem with this is how one might define “sick” . . . I have allergies and bronchitis that usually flare up in early fall (start of harvest) and mid-spring (start of the land prep for planting).
If you saw me coughing, would you automatically assume that I was sick?
ITA; but I’m asking about perceptions: I you saw someone coughing, perhaps with a runny nose, would one go to the automatic conclusion that they were sick?
Also, self-diagnosis can lead to misdiagnosis. FTR, I have had the allergy/bronchitis diagnosis from a medical professional–and I take environmental factors into play when I self-assess.
Others may assume their cough/sniffle is just allergies because the other alternative will pose an inconvenience (especially if they’re job is hourly without sick time available).
Yeah, I wouldn’t attend if I was still sick with a cold. As of last night, I was symptom-free. If I had tested positive for Covid, I would have stayed away from the happy hours, but since I’m not, and I’m no longer symptomatic of anything, why shouldn’t I go into work?
My whole point was I hope that we have learned over the last few years if you are feeling sick to work from home or just take the day off instead of going into the office. I (and my team) have been following that advice for a while. But I know of too many others in my circle that were required by managers to be in at all times and not allowed to work from home at all pre-2020.
Yes, I realize there are hourly workers without sick time, but I am talking to a bunch of actuaries who can easily work from home as needed.
Speaking as someone who gets sicker-than-average from the common cold, and who has been anxious around people with cold symptoms for more than a decade, well before covid:
yes, your runny nose would make me anxious
it would be polite of you to wear a mask when you have cold symptoms, even if you are pretty sure it’s just allergies.
if we have to work close to each other, it would also make me more comfortable if you mentioned, “sorry, I always get a runny nose when the oaks are in pollen.”, or whatever.
Maybe that would make you more comfortable, but it would also make allergy season even more miserable for sufferers. Wearing a mask when you have a runny nose is the pits.
I believe that is why Lucy included the #3 item: acknowledge your condition and explain it.
When I know that there are people with concerns like Lucy (as well as any germaphobes or hypochondriacs), I’ll make such an announcement: “Please excuse my occasional cough as I’m experiencing bronchitis and the farmers planting exacerbates this.”
Which is a reasonable expectation to have of others, IMO.
You can call me a germophobe. Although I’m a selective germophobe. I worry a lot more about respiratory bugs than most people, but less about stomach bugs. For whatever reason, i rarely get very sick from stomach bugs, and I’ve been at events where tons of people were out with gastrointestinal stuff and i was barely under the weather.
I have allergy issues. I agree that nobody wants to have a mask on when their nose is runny. However a well fitted quality mask (N95, KF94,…) can actually help reduce nasal allergy symptoms if you wear it when exposed to pollen.
Although I’m a selective germophobe. I worry a lot more about respiratory bugs than most people, but less about stomach bugs. For whatever reason, i rarely get very sick from stomach bugs, and I’ve been at events where tons of people were out with gastrointestinal stuff and i was barely under the weather.